The present invention relates to a print-outputting method and a print-outputting system, which make it possible to give a additive value to a print.
Conventionally, laboratories, etc. have conducted a print service for providing prints on which images, captured by the customer and exposed onto a silver-halide negative film, are printed. Further, corresponding to the rapid development of the digital still cameras associating with the improvement of digital technologies developed in recent years, laboratories, etc. have also conducted a print service for printing images based on the image data provided by the customer.
In the abovementioned field of service, a print service for providing postcards, such as New Year greeting cards, etc., being photographic papers on which an image captured by the customer and letters of, for instance, “A Happy New Year” and associated images are printed, has been already put into practice. There has been a problem, however, that, as for the postcards provided by the above print service, the customer can only select one of readymade template images issued by the manufacturer.
On the other hand, the recent popularization of the digital printers has made it possible to provide a print service for freely synthesizing images with letters and illustrations designated by the customer to outputs desirable prints. However, the customer needs specialized software to modify the image data to be printed and a proficiency in its modification in a certain extent. Conversely, it has been difficult for a store, running a business of print service, to modify the image data corresponding to the demands of the customers, due to a limitation of its capability, namely, the actual situation of such a store is that it is possible to cope with a case of outputting tens of prints having the same image, such as name-cards with a portrait of the customer, but, it is not suitable to synthesize letters and illustrations being different one by one in each print.
In the abovementioned field of service, it may be possible to provide a print service for displaying advertising messages and guiding information on a part of photographic paper, serving as an image-forming medium, on which images are printed, in order to obtain a part of the printing cost from a sponsor, being a subject of displaying the advertising messages and guiding information. In the abovementioned print service, it is a merit for the sponsor to widely advertise information of the products manufactured by the sponsor himself, while it is a merit for the customer to make the printing charge cheaper. Further, it is a merit for laboratories, etc. to increase profits by increasing a number of customers using the printing service.
In the abovementioned print service, although it is desirable that images based on image data captured by the customer and images based on additive information added by the sponsor are printed on the same photographic paper to improve advertising effects, it is a problem to determine a layout of arranging those images on the same photographic paper. Namely, the conventional L size of the prints is 89 mm×127 mm. Accordingly, in order to produce the L size prints without any loss, either a roll photographic-paper having a width of 89 mm should be cut at every length of 127 mm or a roll photographic-paper having a width of 127 mm should be cut at every length of 89 mm.
Accordingly, since, in the conventional print producing method, all of the width of the roll photographic-paper is fully utilized for printing images regardless of bordered or borderless prints, it has been a problem that the size of the captured image decreases when the images based on the additive information are arranged in the width direction of the photographic paper in parallel. To overcome the abovementioned problem, it may be applicable to employ a photographic paper having a larger width for forming the images based on the additive information. However, this would cause an increase of cost and arise another problem that it is necessary to modify the image-forming apparatus.
Further, it is quite natural that the sponsor, who intends to print images for advertising purpose, wishes that the images based on the additive information appeal to the viewer of viewing images based on the captured image information as stronger as possible. Therefore, it is an important problem to determine a color and a layout of the images based on the additive information. In addition, some sponsors, in a certain field of business, wish to widely distribute coupon tickets and/or discount tickets.